No. 22 Virginia Tech Tramples Radford
No. 22 Virginia Tech defeated New River Valley rival Radford 12-1 on Tuesday, bumping up to 33-12 on the season.
The Hokies' bats caught fire right at the start of the game and never cooled off, scoring six runs in the first inning, one in the second, four in the third, and one in the fourth. Radford had no answer for the home team’s impressive hitting, only managing to plate one run in the first inning when Cori McMillan hit a solo home run.
Emma Ritter was nearly unstoppable for Tech, capitalizing on a no-outs, bases-loaded situation in the first inning with a monstrous grand slam to start off the game. Ritter also had a single in the second inning that brought in another run, totaling five RBIs during the contest.
“We just have to hit and back up our pitchers. I think we’re showing a lot of good signs, we just need to keep pushing through, playing hard, and picking each other up,” Ritter said.
Ritter wasn’t the only Hokie putting runs up on the board. Kelsey Bennett knocked in two runs off a double during the first inning, Kelsey Brown bunted in a run, and Cameron Fagan shot one over the center field wall with runners on second and third. Bre Peck also had a solo homer to lead off the fourth inning, marking the Hokies’ 12th and final run.
Molly Jacobson gets the win for Tech after replacing Lyndsey Grein to start off the third inning. Jacobson is 6-2 as a pitcher, allowing one hit Tuesday with two strikeouts. Emma Lemley came in to close the fifth, notching three strikeouts on her belt to finish the game.
Radford just couldn’t find any success in the bullpen, with three pitchers taking the mound in the five-inning game. Each pitcher gave up a home run, and none of them could tally a strikeout.
No. 5 Florida State will head to Tech Softball Park on Thursday for a three-game series to close out the week. The Seminoles are 36-8 overall and lead the ACC at 13-2 in conference play, one of the toughest opponents Tech has seen all season.
“Historically, we’ve played well against [Florida State], the thing that’s different now is we’re the underdogs. Nobody is giving us a chance against them. We just need to go out and play,” Head Coach Pete D’Amour said.
